Method of cleaning knitted or like fabrics



W. A. AINSWORTH.

METHOD OF CLEANING KNITTED 0H LIKE FABRICS. I

APPLICATION FILED AUG-9, 1919.

Patented Apr. 26, 1921.,

' UNITED STATES PATENT f OFFICE.

WILLIAM A. AINSWOR'IH, OF UTICA, NEW YORK.

METHOD or onn'amne KNITTED on LIKE rhrmcs.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM A. .AlNS- WORTH, a citizen of, the United States of America, residing at Utica, in the county of Oneida and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Cleaning Knitted or like F abricsf and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it of a picker appliance on the winding machines used in knitting mills to disengage.

' and pick such undesired particles from the yarn. This picker appliance may be used in other-places, of coursetso long as the yarn is passed from one point toanother .7 the yarn is more or less rasped and fraye with a resultant loss in Wei ht 0f the yarn and injur thereto whic reduces the strength 0 the yarn. 1

With my invention, the yarn as it comes from the yarn mill may be knitted into a thereto or to the strands of yarn in the fabric. I have found that these foreign matters may be forced from the fabric by passing a strong current of air therethrough, particularly if, at the same'time, the fabric is stretched in a transverse direction to separate the Wales thereof; Furthermore, as a completion of the method, the u e of a vacuum suction apparatus on the si e of the fabric opposite to that at which the current of air is applied and blown through the fabric, and positioned to come intoplay against the fabric after the blowing step of the process has been completed, ismade, serving to remove any particles which may have been partly separated from the fabric but still adhere slightly, the fabric also bein stretched'during .t is step.

or an understanding of the invention, reference may behad to the following description taken'in connection with the accompanying drawing which shows one way in which the method the picker- In this'prooess of'pickin Specification of Letters Patent. 7 Patented Apr, 26, 1921, Y Application filed Au uste, 1919. Serial No. 316,313.

may be. carried out. and in which, 1

Figure 1 is a plan enough of the fabric and apparatus used to illustrate the steps of the method, and

Fig. 2 is a tional view 0 the same. I

Like reference characters refer to like parts in the different views of the drawing.

The fabric 1 may be wound on a-d'rum or reel 2 and passed therefrom to a similar reel or drum 3. .Any other suitable manner of moving the fabric from one point to another may be used. As it leaves the drum 2 it is passed between rollers 4 .and 5 located at each side of the fabric and around which belts 6 pass which are driven in any suitable manner, the axes of the rollers being located at an angle to the length of the fabric and rollers 5 being farther separated than rollers 4 so that the fabric is stretched during the period of its passage between the rollers 4 and 5. A hollow head or nozzle 7 is placed above the fabric over the stretched portion thereof and a current of air is forced through the fabric through the nozzle, any suitable form of blowing apparatus indicated at 8 being used. The fabric is shown as passing over a perforated table 9 directly under the nozzle 7 which supports the fabric and holds it closely against the nozzle. The fabric then passes over a suction nozzle 11 with which any suitable suction apparatus 10 is connected to draw air through the fabric into the suction-nozzle. Both the current of air blown through-the fabric and that drawn through the same pass through when the. fabric is stretched transversely of its length and the Wales separated to allow greater freedom of passage. It is to be understood that this desirable matter is not entirely removed by I view showing only" artial side elevation and secthe blowing, it is loosened and partly blown through the fabric so as to be readily removed by the suction apparatus. This makes a very practical and efiicient process of cleaning the fabric and one which does not in any Way injure the goods or the strands of yarn making the same, and without the objectionable lint which covers a winding machine most of the time that it is in operation in conjunction with picker appliances.

I claim:

1. The herein described method of cleaning knitted or like fabrics which consists in passing the fabric from one point to an- .other and in stretching the fabriclaterally between said points and passing a curren' of air therethrough at such stretched portions as the fab ic passes, substantially as described.

2. The method of cleaning knitted or like fabrics which consists in passing a length of fabric from one point to another, in stretching it transversely between said points and in blowing a current of air there? through followed by the drawing of a current of air therethrough, substantially as described.

In testimony ture.

WILLIAM A. AINSWORTH.

whereof I affix my signa-. 

